SNP Government to cede control of Scotland’s coasts to a call centre in HampshireNo doubt you think Holyrood are also to blame for the loss of Nimrod SAR cover, the closure of the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) to assist ships on fire around UK coasts and the threat to remove the ETVs or Emergency Towing Vessels (ie tugs) all implemented by this UK government but strangely absent from their manifesto, whether Tory or LibDem. Each of these issues constitutes a real degregation of safety at sea. As the Shipping Minister represents Wimbledon perhaps we shouldn’t be holding our breath waiting for him to rectify these matters.

Russell describes three year delay in west coast ferries contract as ‘a breathing space’Ouch! Is there a wee raw nerve there? We might have hoped for a gracious admission of having jumped to a false conclusion on unbundling. The council run services may appear peripheral from the newsroom but they are of considerable interest to the communities involved. The draft ferries document does not actually propose cutting services, some are identified for further study, surely the opportunity for users to make their case now if they consider them essential. (I think they are). Isn’t that what the whole review process means? On 21st Sept you reported the minister as saying ‘As I said in my statement of 5 September to the Chamber, on the subject of Ferries to Orkney, our next challenge is the replacement of the contract for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services which expires in October next year.

‘Despite recent speculation, no final decisions have been made regarding the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Service (CHFS) tender. We are currently considering our approach to fulfilling the tendering requirements to ensure we can deliver a ferry service that matches our aspirations.

‘We will be announcing our plans for the procurement of the next contract soon and we can assure local communities, ferry users and the service providers that, as well as Parliament, they will be among the first to be informed of our final decision.

‘By the end of this, we will fulfil our promise to publish the Final Ferries Plan and this provide a blueprint for improvements to ferry services across the country. This plan will set down the foundation for a programme of investments that clearly demonstrates our commitment to our island communities and to the ferries serving them.’ This is entirely consistent with this week’s announcement, so I don’t understand what you are asking me to account for.